


Cold waters

by Mirha



Series: Mermaid AU [1]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 12:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15972179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirha/pseuds/Mirha
Summary: All his life, young merman Šime was told to stay close to the reef and to his home, far away from the dangerous mersharks wandering in deep waters. But because of his recklessness, he gets caught in a storm and ends up far from his land, only to be rescued by a mysterious stranger.





	1. Chapter 1

Šime was busy exploring a wreck ship, swimming happily and humming the tone of Marica. The bag at his side was already full with human cutlery that he would take the time to examine back home. They would be great to use as accessories when he was singing, for sure!

Above him, the sun was slowly starting to disappear, but the young merman didn’t notice. His friend Luka had told him a thousand times not to wander outside late at night, though, but Šime was too caught up in his task to realize it was getting dark.

Night was a dangerous time for his kind. Mersharks roamed the sea looking for preys and easily attacked imprudent mermen, seeing them as concurrence for fish hunting. But Šime was fed up with everyone telling him to worry about mersharks when he had never encountered one in his life. For all he knew, maybe they were just an old legend used to scare reckless young mermen such as himself so they would be nice and go to bed early.

Still, as darkness fell upon the sea, he didn’t feel as confident as before and was considering heading his way back home. But at the very same moment, he spotted a chest laying in the sand, a few feet away from the ship. Its lock shone brightly, just begging to be open, and Šime just couldn’t resist the temptation.

He decided to have a look, swearing to himself that he would go back to the safety of the reef once he checked what was in it.

Opening it was a real hassle, though, and Šime struggled a lot before he managed to pick on the lock with one of the forks he had found earlier in the boat. He opened the heavy lid of the chest, only to find old papers ruined by time and water. The merman sighed, disappointed, but he soon had something more important to worry about when the waves around him grew more violent all of a sudden.

He tried to escape and to hide behind some rocks, but the storm was too strong. He was engulfed back into the current as he cried for help, even though he knew his whole family was certainly asleep in the safety of their home by now. Šime cursed himself for his imprudence as the current carried him away, towards deeper, more dangerous waters.

Suddenly, a huge rock crashed on his tail and he let out a cry of pain. He found himself stuck in the middle of the storm and he started to panic, knowing that he could die buried under other debris. He thrashed around, trying to free himself from the stone, but to no avail. He sobbed in pain as the efforts teared his fin apart, red blood soiling the waters near him.

Despite his hurting, he tried to move the stone away once more but didn’t get any results. He was starting to despair when he saw a vague silhouette getting closer to him. Suddenly, his hopes rose up. This had to be Luka or Domo! His friends surely noticed his absence at nightfall and now they were coming to his rescue!

Another powerful wave hit Šime in the face, and he was forced to close his eyes so no sand would get caught in them. When he opened them again, he found himself staring at a stranger. The other mer was close enough to touch him, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. So not Luka and Domo, then. But at this point, Šime would gladly welcome any kind of help.

“You must get out of here or you won’t survive that storm!” The man yelled at him.

“I can’t! My tail is trapped under a rock!”

The stranger looked down and grimaced at what he saw.

“Shit. Try to stay still and I’ll remove it.”

“Did you see the size of that thing? You’ll never be strong enough! Please, go and find some help, I beg of you.”

But the man didn’t listen. Facing the currents, he dived so he could grip at the rock. Šime held his breath. Even though he knew such an exploit was impossible, he still felt the desire to root for that strange, charming mer.

He yelped in pain as the rock started to move, but it soon faded as the stone was removed from his tail. However, he didn’t spend long marveling at the strength of his savior because the moment his fin was free, his blood started to spill into the water at an alarming rate. Šime felt dizzy as he prayed the underwater gods that no shark or even worse, mershark would catch onto his scent.

“Thank you, I’m going to go back at the reef now, before the weather gets too bad.”

“Are you out of your mind? You’ll never make it out alive, not with that injury! You can barely swim and the reef’s too far away anyway. Just hold onto me, I know a place where we’ll be safe!”

Šime wanted to protest, because he was pretty sure there was no safe place so far into mershark territory, but his state didn’t really leave him any choice to argue. The stranger was right, he could barely move his tail without crying in pain. So he nodded and wrapped his arms around his savior’s neck as the man lifted him up.

“Alright. Now no matter what happens, just don’t let go, okay?”

Before Šime could agree, the man started to swim through the maelstrom. The merman shivered in fear as the whole sea seemed to spin around them. He hid his face against his savior’s neck and closed his eyes so he wouldn’t get sick. It was still a frightening ride as the sea roared in his ears and slapped his face. More debris hit them, but they managed to make it to calmer waters. Only then Šime allowed himself to breathe again.

“You alright?” The other mer asked.

“Yeah, a little shaken, but it could be worse. Thanks for saving me, I thought I would die in there. The name’s Šime by the way.”

“Dejan.” His savior introduced himself. “Don’t worry, we’re getting close to the cove I told you about. I’ll take care of your injury once we get there.”

Šime should have been more worried about a complete stranger taking him to a closeted space, but Dejan’s presence reassured him. He relaxed against him even though he tried to stay awake despite his blood loss. They quickly entered a small cave linked to a few underwater tunnels. Dejan carefully laid him down on a small couch made of fabric coming from the human world. Šime smiled. So Dejan shared his passion for the above world, too.

“Thank you so much, I owe you my life. If a mershark had found me before you did… I don’t even want to think about it. How can I repay y-”

Šime lost his voice as he looked properly at Dejan for the first time. He didn’t realize it sooner, but because of the storm, he didn’t get a good view of Dejan’s body past his waist. But now, He could do nothing but stare at his shark tail as it moved from right to left. As he paid more attention to his savior’s appearance, he also noticed that his eyes were dark, too dark too be those of a merman. Šime would bet his teeth were sharper, too.

“Wait, you are… Did you take me here so you could kill me easily? Or do you plan to feed me to one of your pet sharks?”

Šime’s whole body shook as he shivered in fear, curling up as far away from Dejan as he could. He knew he was vulnerable. With his hurt tail, he couldn’t even try to run away. He was about to break into sobs when Dejan knelt next to him.

“Oh no, don’t panic, please. I have no intention of harming you in any way, I promise. I have no idea what you’ve been told, but we -mersharks- we don’t do those kinds of things anymore. We strayed from the old barbaric ways a long time ago. I just want to help, I swear.”

The young merman stayed cautious, but the sincerity in Dejan’s voice troubled him. Mersharks were strong, he had witnessed it earlier when he freed him from the rock. He was almost sure Dejan could have broken his neck easily while he was carrying him out of the storm. So maybe he could trust him. Not that he had another choice, though.

“So you won’t feed me to your sharks?” He asked in a small voice.

Dejan laughed softly at his question, shaking his head.

“Of course not. To be honest, they hate the taste of mermen. Our ancestors had to train them really hard so they would attack your kind, during the old wars. So don’t worry, I think the sharks living here would rather eat seaweed than you. But talking of seaweed, we still need to bandage that wound of yours. Can you let me do that? I’ll need to get close to you for that.”

Šime understood that from the moment he discovered Dejan was a mershark, his savior had made sure to leave him some personal place so he wouldn’t panic. The attention moved something in him and he struggled more and more to associate Dejan with the tales of blood-thirsty mersharks he was taught as a kid.

“Yeah, no problem, go ahead.”

He tried to sound confident, but fear still slipped through his voice. Dejan nodded and gathered some seaweed growing in the cave. Then he sat next to Šime to examine his injury. In order to do so, he moved the merman’s tail so he would get a better view of the wounded area. Šime’s heart raced at feeling of his warm hands wandering on his scales and he tried to convince himself he was only reacting out of fear, and not because Dejan looked devilishly handsome.

“Damn, it’s even worse than I thought. Just putting seaweed on it won’t be enough. You need to see a healer.”

“Really? It hurts, but not that bad.”

Šime rose up so he could get a better look at his injury, but he paled the moment he took a glimpse of it. The base of his tail was almost split in two in the middle and some of his bones were showing through the wound. The sight made him nauseous and he started to panic.

“There’s so much blood… Oh no, what if I can never swim again? I should have listened to Luka, exploring that wreck was the worst idea ever!”

Šime flinched when Dejan put an arm around his shoulder. The mershark looked pained, but he stayed calm.

“I’ll do everything I can to help you, I promise. We just have to wait for the end of the storm here. Just stay strong until then, okay? I’ll try to stop the hemorrhage for now.”

The merman nodded his agreement and Dejan started to work on his injury. However, Šime soon started to feel himself doze off. He tried his best to stay awake, but he was tired, so tired. His eyes closed on his own and Dejan’s voice became nothing more than a far away sound.

“No, stay with me! Šime, please! Šime!”

The merman noted the desperation in Dejan’s voice, but he felt too far away to do anything about it. A second later, sleep engulfed him completely.

 

“You’re an idiot and a fool! You’re putting us all in danger!”

“Then what did you want me to do, Mario? Let him die?”

Šime groaned when he came to his senses to the sound of yelling. His whole body hurt and he suffered from a painful headache. When he tried to open his eyes, his vision was still blurry, so he decided to lie down and try to understand what was going on.

“He’s a merman, Dejan! It won’t take long before his friends start looking for him and if they find him here, what do you think will happen? They’ll come here to eradicate us all!”

“Calm down, both of you. You’ll argue about what to do with the merman later. He’s waking up.”

“Šime. His name is Šime.” Dejan corrected, but that didn’t keep him from rushing to the merman’s side.

Šime heard his footsteps getting closer and he tried to open his eyes again when Dejan put a hand on his arm. This time, his sight was good enough to make up the contours of the mershark’s face.

“Hey, are you alright? You frightened me, back in the cave. Thought I would lose you.”

“What… Where I am?”

He blinked a few times, until he got a better view of his surroundings. Once it was done, he started to panic when he realized that he was surrounded by four mersharks. He jumped in fear and tried to run away, but his tail refused to respond to his commands. One of the mersharks, the tallest of the group, rushed towards him.

“No, don’t move! Your tail is still anesthetized, you’ll only hurt yourself.”

That didn’t help to calm him down, not until Dejan trapped his face in between his big hands and forced Šime to look at him.

“I know you’re freaking out, but please listen to Čarli’s advise. He’s the healer I told you about, remember? He tended to your wounds. There’s no need to be frightened, we’re here to help you, I promise.”

“Speak for yourself, Dejan. I still believe we should get rid of him as soon as possible.”

“Stay out of this, Mario, or I swear I will fight you!”

“Come on, then. I’m ready to beat your ass any time.”

“Stop it, you two. We won’t solve this problem by fighting among ourselves.” The fourth mershark intervened, stepping between Mario and Dejan to keep them apart from each other.

“Very well, then what do you suggest we do, Ivan? Wait for the mermen to come and find us?”

“I didn’t say I knew how to handle this. What I know, however, is that we definitely will get into trouble with mermen if we kill one of their kind.”

“Who talked of killing him ourselves? We should just throw him out of here, let him find his way to his land on his own.”

“Are you out of your mind? If we do that, he’ll die from his injuries, if humans don’t capture him first!” Dejan shouted.

“Yeah, that’s the idea. We would get rid of him and those bastards from the reef wouldn’t hold us responsible for his death.”

“That’s it, Mario. Enough is enough. We’re not going to kill anyone here. Now we should give our guest here some space. He must be confused enough already.”

For a second, Šime feared the angry mershark would attack this Ivan, but he turned around, although rage was still radiating from him.

“Fine, do as you wish, but don’t come crying when the mermen will come for us!” He yelled before swimming away.

Ivan sighed and followed him, maybe to reason him. The healer decided to do the same, leaving Šime and Dejan alone.

“Please don’t mind Mario. He’s a good guy, I swear, he’s only trying to protect us.”

Despite Dejan’s efforts, Šime stayed skeptical. He could barely move and hated the idea of being trapped with mersharks who could kill him at any moment. However, a strange, warm feeling blossomed in his chest when Dejan pulled him a bit closer to him, worry in his eyes.

“Say something, please. I know you must be startled by all this, but…”

“What do you want me to say? I’m far from my home, and I’m hurt, and I’m scared, and your friend want to kill me, and…”

Without warning, Šime broke into sobs. He wanted to hear his friends’ voices again, wanted to hear Luka ranting about how he should me more prudent, wanted to fall victim to one of Domo’s pranks again, wanted to feel safe knowing Suba was here to have his back if something went wrong…

But he wasn’t home, he was in mershark territory and his only ally there was a man he just met.

“Oh no, don’t cry! Everything we’ll be alright, don’t worry. I’ll protect you, I promise. No one will hurt you. Not under my guard. Just rest for now, okay?”

Maybe it was foolish, but something told Šime he could trust Dejan. So he held onto him, crying his heart out as the mershark whispered words of comfort in his ear.

The mershark called Vedran, the healer, came back to Šime a little later to announce to him that he wouldn’t be able to swim for a while, the time for his fin to recover completely. But the merman could have guessed that on his own. He was slowly regaining feeling in his tail, even though he wished he didn’t. The pain was almost unbearable and he felt like crying once more.


	2. Chapter 2

The next week was a blur. Šime was always feverish, alternating between waking up to pain and falling back into comatose. Sometimes he heard people talking next to him, but he was too far gone to understand what they were saying.

Even in his haze, he recognized the man who was taking care of him. Whenever he woke up, Dejan was there by his side. And when he wasn’t, it was only so he could come back later with some fishes and seashells he caught so he could feed Šime small bites of it. His merman’s instincts reacted strangely to this. He couldn’t get out of his mind that Dejan was hunting for him, which was usually an act of courting. Šime tried to shake the thought off as best as he could in his miserable state. Dejan wasn’t trying to seduce him, only to keep him alive.

At some point, the pain started to fade and Šime slowly started to come back to his normal self. Vedran still forbade him to move too much and so he was mostly stuck in bed all day, with Dejan to watch after him. And when he couldn’t, another mershark stayed by his side to make sure no harm would come to him.

At first, Šime would fear them, especially Mario. But with time, he discovered they weren’t that bad. Even Mario quickly showed a soft side the merman didn’t expect and he quickly stopped talking about forcing him to leave. He still pouted every time one of his friends evoked Šime’s case, but it was clear he didn’t mean it anymore.

All in all, it wasn’t so bad, but the merman still missed his home and his friends. Those deep waters were different from the colorful coral reefs he was used to. Here, it was colder and more frightening. Once he stopped having fever, Šime started suffering from how freezing it got at night. He shivered and shook as Dejan stared at him with worried eyes.

“Is something wrong?” The mershark asked him worriedly.

“I’m not used to this cold.” He answered while rubbing his hands together in hope it would bring him some warmth.

“Here, tried putting this on.”

Dejan handed him a blanket and Šime didn’t lose a minute before hiding himself in it. But the cold was still nipping at his skin, making him tremble.

“It’s not enough.” Šime whined.

Dejan noticed how his lips were starting to turn blue and before he could think it further, he opened his arms to the merman.

“Here, I’ll warm you up. I don’t know if it will help much, but…”

A few days earlier, Šime never would have accepted to come anywhere close to a mershark. But by now, he knew Dejan only wanted to help him, so he joined him without fear. He entangled his hurt tail with Dejan’s and laid his head on his shoulder, sighing in contentment as the cold retreated from his body.

“Better now?”

“Yeah, thank you. I’m sorry for putting you through so much trouble.”

“Don’t be stupid, you’re no trouble at all. Maybe the others won’t tell you, but everyone already loves you here. To be honest, we’re gonna miss you once you go back to your home.”

“Wait, that means I’ll get to go back home? I thought Mario wouldn’t let me leave, in fear I would tell my family where you live.”

“And you really believed that? By now, you should know we’re not cruel. The moment your tail is healed, I’ll take you back to the reef, don’t worry.”

Those words should have brought peace to Šime, but they didn’t. The cold didn’t keep him from sleeping anymore, but his wandering thoughts did. Because as he cuddled closer to Dejan, pretending he was seeking warmth, he realized he didn’t want to leave his side.

Of course, he yearned to see his friends and family again, but the hatred and fear keeping mermen and mersharks apart would keep him from seeing Dejan once he went back to the reef. And Šime didn’t want that.

He stayed awake long after Dejan succumbed to sleep, staring at his handsome features and wondering when exactly he had started falling for him.

 

The days that followed, Šime started noticing new things. The knowing looks that Ivan and Vedran sent him when Dejan spent time with him, to begin with. He wondered if it was his mind playing tricks on him or if his feelings were just that obvious.

Now, even when the nights weren’t cold, he would sneak into Dejan’s arms and the mershark would welcome him happily. His convalescence wasn’t even that bad when he had someone so dedicated to take care of him. Sometimes, his muscles would get too sore because of his inactivity. When it happened, Šime started wriggling around, until Dejan would put his hands on his shoulders and start massaging them.

“You don’t have to.” Šime groaned each time before biting his lips, because gods, Dejan’s touch felt heavenly on him and he didn’t want to let out any embarrassing sound.

Dejan just shrugged and went on with it. His hands were always slow and gentle and sometimes, he would stop for a second to compliment Šime on his tattoos and ask for their meanings. Coming from someone else, Šime might have found the questions rude or intrusive, but Dejan always made sure not to be too forward about it.

His tail slowly healed, but Šime soon discovered that learning to swim again would be a real struggle. Vedran gave him a list of physical exercises to do regularly, but his progresses were slow and sometimes he feared he would stay crippled all his life.

He was busy stretching, clear pain on his face, when he finally snapped. Šime hit the sand at the bottom of the sea angrily while Dejan rushed to see what was wrong.

“It’s useless! I’m too weak now, I’ll never manage to swim again. I’m nothing but a burden. I don’t even understand why you’re still bothering yourself with me.”

“Don’t say that, Šime. You’re not bothering anyone here, and certainly not me. Čarli told you your recovery would take time, don’t give up now.”

“But it’s so hard! I feel like I’ll never make it!”

“You just need more motivation. Just think of your friends, of your family. Once you recover, you’ll be able to swim back to the reef and to see them again.”

“Maybe, but then I’ll also have to tell you goodbye.”

Šime’s voice cracked and he looked down, not wanting Dejan to see the sadness in his eyes. The mershark reached out for him, a pained expression on his face.

“So that’s what’s been troubling you, uh?”

“Partly, it’s just… I wish I could go back to my home without leaving you forever.”

“And sometimes I wish you’d never leave, but I can’t allow myself to be that selfish. You’re a merman, Šime, your life is in the reef, with your kind. I can’t make you stay here, no matter how much I wish I could.”

Šime noticed a change in Dejan’s eyes, just a little spark, but it was enough for him to make a bold move. He put a hand on the mershark’s jaw and then joined their lips together. Suddenly, their opposite natures didn’t matter anymore. They needed to keep touching, to get drunk on each other. There was no hiding their feelings anymore.

However, Šime stumbled as the muscles in his tail failed him once more. He thought he was going to fall, but Dejan caught him in his arms, keeping him close.

“Hey, be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Sorry, I was a little too busy kissing you to think about how my weak body could betray meat any moment.” The merman chuckled before closing the space between them once more.

Because of Šime’s condition, they had to stick to kisses and cuddles, nothing more, but they both were happy with it. They wanted to take it slow, to ignore that their time together would come to an end soon. They didn’t talk further of how they would need to leave each other once Sime’s fin would be healed completely. They had no idea where their relationship would take them, but for now, they wanted to enjoy it to its fullest.

“You know, I think Ivan will never let me live it down.” Dejan told him a while later, as Šime was snuggling close to him.

“Really?”

“Yep, he kept teasing me about how I got it bad for you. Can’t say he was wrong, though.”

“C’mon, I’m worth a little teasing from you friends, no?”

“Of course you are.” Dejan replied before leaning in to steal another kiss.

 

In the end, Dejan was right about the teasing, except it didn’t only come from Ivan, but also from Mario. Only Vedran stayed out of it, but Šime often caught him sending worried glances at him and Dejan. It wasn’t difficult to see why. The mershark was already preparing for the moment Šime would leave their land and break Dejan’s heart in the process.

To his dismay, his injury seemed to heal more quickly, now that he didn’t want it to. Day after day, he felt himself growing stronger, to the point where he could start to wander on his own in mershark land. Dejan would never be far away, of course, but still, he wouldn’t be able to hide behind this excuse for long to stay with his lover.

He was busy teaching the lyrics of Marica to his four mersharks friends when they all turned their head like one man, leaving Šime confused, until he saw someone approaching. At first, he was afraid it would be a person with bad intentions, but his heart filled with joy when he recognized the merman coming near them.

“Luka!” He exclaimed, ready to rush to his friend, but Mario stopped him.

Šime wanted to protest, but he decided against it when he noticed how tense the mershark was. He was reminded of his fear of mermen and thought it would be best to let Vedran and Ivan handle this situation.

“Šime! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Are you alright? They didn’t hurt you, right?”

He couldn’t help but think that Luka was surprisingly calm, for someone surrounded by four potentially hostile mersharks.

“No, I’m fine, don’t worry. On the contrary, Dejan saved me from a bad storm and brought me here so I could recover from my injuries. They’re not bad people, I swear.”

Luka simply nodded, as if Šime was simply stating a well-known fact. The merman still feared how the mersharks would react to Luka. He didn’t expect them, however, to turn around so they could face a red-faced Ivan.

“Well, it looks like someone here kept some secrets from us.” Dejan snickered.

“Yes, now I understand better why you kept defending mermen, always saying they’re not as bad as I thought.” Mario added.

“Wait, this isn’t… Oh, just give me a minute!”

Ivan swam past his friends and grabbed Luka’s arms before dragging him away from all this agitation. While the three mersharks were busy laughing between themselves, Šime followed his friend discreetly. After all the time he spent here, he knew Ivan was a good person, but he was still worried for Luka, especially since he had no idea what was actually going on.

He hid behind a rock so he could listen to Luka and Ivan talking without them noticing his presence. This way, he would be able to intervene if things turned for the worse.

“Ivan, that hurts! Let me go, please!”

“What were you thinking, coming here all on your own? Something could have happened to you during your travel! Humans could have captured you, or you could have encountered mersharks way less friendly than me towards your kind, or a sea creature could have attacked you…”

“Ivan, calm down, please. I’m here and I’m unscathed. No need for you to freak out.”

“No need for me to freak out? I’m sorry, but I thought we agreed to keep our relationship a secret and all of a sudden, you just appear in front of all my friends while reeking of me. Excuse me if I’m a little put off.”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean by reeking of you?”

Luka smelled his own hand, then his forearm, in search of a foreign scent he obviously couldn’t find. Šime watched it all from his hide-out, still confused. Ivan and Luka were acting suspiciously for strangers who were supposed to have just met each other.

Ivan’s eyes suddenly grew wide in realization and he let go of Luka, his mouth agape.

“Hold on, so you mean you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Gods, I’m such an idiot. I forgot that mermen like you don’t have a sense of smell as good as mersharks.”

“I’m still not quite grasping how that’s relevant right now.”

“Please, don’t tell me I really have to spell it out for you. The thing is, my smell is still over you from the last time we… You know…”

“Oh…” Luka let out as he understood what Ivan was trying to tell him.

“Yes, oh.”

“So you mean that all your friends now know that you and I have…”

“Been fucking for months? Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

Luka’s face went a tad whiter.

“How could they know about long this has been going on?”

“My smell is very persistent on you.” Ivan replied while blushing hard.

“Well, sorry, but I couldn’t know! Also, none of this would have happened if you had told me earlier that Šime was here with you. All this time, I was worrying about him, fearing that he was dead or worse, captured by humans so they would lead experiences on him. I had awful nightmares, imagining him being tortured, while all this time he was here with you…”

Luka shook from head to fins and Ivan gently pulled him into his arms, his grey shark tail intertwining with Luka’s red and white one. They touched forehead as Ivan gently trailed his fingers over Luka’s cheek.

“I’m sorry, dragi, I had no idea he was your friend. But I can promise you we’ve been treating him well. He had an ugly injury when Dejan brought him to us, but Vedran tended to it and he’s almost recovered completely, now.”

Luka nodded and Šime guessed that Ivan must have already shared everything with him about who his friends were.

“Thank you so much. If something had happened to Šime, I never would have been able to forgive myself.”

“Yeah, I can figure that alright. You always care so much about others, Lukita.”

“No, you don’t get it! The day he disappeared, I was planning on checking on him before nightfall. Šime has always been reckless and I knew he was going to that wreck ship. I should have made sure he came back home safe and sound, but you came to see me that day and I lost track of time. When you left, it was already too late…”

“It’s okay now, Luka. Your friend is safe. And to be honest, it’s a little thanks to you that I started convincing my friends that mermen aren’t that bad, so you still helped him in an indirect way.”

“You’re one idiot shark, you know? Always trying to make me feel better.” Luka sighed, a gentle smile on his face. “I’m really sorry if I caused you trouble by coming here. I hope your friends won’t force you to leave because of me.”

“A while ago, I would have feared that too and that’s why I wanted our relationship to stay a secret back then, but now… Now I think there’s a chance they may accept it. A lot happened since the last time I saw you. Thanks to Šime, they see mermen in a different light, now. Even Mario appreciates him now, even though he’ll never admit it.”

“Well, that’s good news. I’m not sure I’ll be able to look straight at them anytime soon, though, after what you just told me about your friends being able to scent your smell on me.”

Luka looked down, a blush quickly spreading on his cheeks. However, Ivan put a hand under his chin so he would look at him.

“That might be embarrassing for a while, sure. But to be honest, it does things to me to think that during all this time, you were walking around with my scent on you, not even trying to hide it.”

“Oh really?” Luka replied, his voice growing an octave huskier.

It didn’t take long for them to start kissing and Šime took it as his cue to leave, now that he was sure Ivan had only good intentions when it came to his friend. Of course, he was surprised to discover Luka had been dating a mershark during all this time and managed to hide it, but he couldn’t blame him. Not when Šime himself held feelings for Dejan.

Speaking of the mershark, it didn’t take long until they crossed paths. Dejan looked like he was panicking and he threw himself in Šime’s arms the moment he saw him.

“You’re here! What did you think you were doing, leaving all on your own while your injury is barely healed? I though you were just gonna follow your friend back to the reef, without even saying goodbye…”

The merman didn’t expect Dejan to be so clingy but found his reaction cute and heartwarming. He put a quick kiss on his cheek before hugging him tightly.

“Shh, don’t worry. I would never do anything like that, I care too much about you. And now that I’ve discovered that Ivan and Luka have been seeing each other all this time, there’s no way I’ll accept to be separated from you. We’ll make this work, one way or another.”

“You really mean it?”

“Hell yeah, I mean it.” Šime smiled before dragging him into a passionate kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment when they all gathered back together was a little bit awkward. Ivan had finally taught Luka how to hide his smell on him, sure, but there was no dissimulating his messy hair or the red love bites on his collarbone. Šime could boast that at least, him and Dejan were more careful when it came down to this aspect of their relationship. Mainly because Dejan was too afraid to hurt the merman with his pointy teeth, but still.

This time, the two mermen took their time to hug each other while Šime tried to convince his friend that nothing that had happened was his fault and that Luka should stop beating himself over it. Meanwhile, the mersharks didn’t forget to tease Ivan once more, but it didn’t bother him much since he was a little to busy ogling Luka with fondness.

“Jokes aside, can we talk about… This?” Dejan asked after a while.

He lacked confidence until Šime joined his side and put his hand in his, an encouraging smile on his lips.

“Talk about what?” Mario replied, not understanding where the conversation was going.

“Luka and Ivan, Šime and me. We shouldn’t have to stay apart, not when we love each other. I though that maybe, we could do something about it.”

“Well, if you ask me, I have no problems with your mermen boyfriends staying here. I mean, Šime has proved a thousand times that he’s a good guy and I’m sure Luka is no different.” Vedran intervened.

Dejan shook his head, even though the support coming from his friend warmed his heart.

“You know it isn’t that easy. Mermen aren’t meant to live in such deep waters. It’s too cold in here and there’s not enough sun, not enough sea life around. I can’t ask Šime to stay somewhere he wouldn’t be happy.”

“The same goes for Luka.” Ivan added, sadness in his voice.

His lover squeezed his hand, trying to bring reassurance to the mershark, but also to gather his own courage.

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about this, and I thought that maybe… Maybe I could tell the other mermen about you guys. I mean, before seeing Šime with you I feared it would be too difficult for our kinds to live together, but now… Now I believe it’s time to bury the resentment that exists between our two people. If that’s fine with you, I’d like to go back to the reef and to talk to the other mermen living there so that they would accept you.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous for us?” Mario inquired.

“I won’t tell them where you live and you’ll only come to the reef if I’m sure there are no dangers for you there, but please, let me try. It might sound cheesy to you, but I want to date Ivan without having to hide just because mermen and mersharks were at war decades ago.”

Luka looked fierce and that seemed to surprise the mersharks, but not Ivan and Šime. They both knew what he was capable of when something wasn’t going his way.

It took long talks and lots of convincing for Mario to agree, but in the end, Luka got his way. However, there was still one thing he needed to make clear.

“You know, If I want my friends to believe you’re harmless, it would be better for Šime to come with me. He’s the living evidence that that you mersharks can be kind to us.”

“Yes, I guess I can do that. I’ll tell everyone how awesome you guys are!” He beamed, a huge grin on his face.

Dejan, however, didn’t share his enthusiasm.

“Are you sure? I mean, what if other mermen don’t accept us? If that happens, maybe I’ll never get to see you again.”

“C’mon, don’t be so pessimistic. I’m sure that we’ll manage to convince them. My friends are kindhearted people too, you know.”

Šime looked sure of himself, but it wasn’t enough to dissipate all of Dejan’s doubt. The merman took his hands in his and gently caressed his palms while staring straight at him.

“Listen to me, Dejan. No matter what will happen at the reef, I’ll come back to you. And if I have to freeze to death in these waters so I can be with you, then I’ll do it. Can I go now?”

“Stop that, I’ll never ask such a big sacrifice of you and you know it.”

“Well, maybe you can have a little trust in me, then? Luka and I can be quite persuasive when we want to, I promise you. We’ll see each other again. I promise.”

Dejan closed his eyes in resignation, but opened them again on a smile, although tears threatened to fall on his cheeks.

“Alright, if you think you can do it, I’ll let you go. It’s just… You know that I love you, right?”

“No, I thought you were only cuddling and kissing with me for the body warmth. Of course I know and I love you too, you moron. But now we don’t have much time if Luka and I want to leave before nightfall.”

“Yes, of course. You’d better get ready. If something were to happen to you on your way there… God, I don’t want to think about it.”

“Then don’t. It will all turn alright, you’ll see.”

Dejan pulled him in for a desperate kiss and Šime chuckled against his lips, caressing the mershark’s hair in a soothing gesture. In that moment, Dejan wished he could be as carefree as him.

Luka and Ivan didn’t take as much time to say their goodbyes. They were used to not seeing each other for long and so it was a common occurrence for them. It didn’t keep Ivan for plating a kiss at the top of Luka’s head though while his eyes begged the small merman to come back to him once more.

The two mermen waved their goodbyes before disappearing from their view and Dejan immediately felt his heart sinking. At least Šime wasn’t alone for his long travel, but this knowledge didn’t bring him the peace of mind he desperately sought.

“Don’t worry, Luka knows what he is doing. They’ll be back soon.”

There wasn’t a flicker of hesitation in Ivan’s voice and Dejan wished he could share this feeling of certainty. Maybe he was a bit overprotective when it came down to Šime but the miserable state in which in had found him was still engraved in his memory and would certainly stay there until his last day.

 

Waiting was torture. Each hour that passed, Dejan would swim around in circles, imagining the worst scenarios possible. Vedran and Ivan tried to calm him, of course, but to no avail. He would find no rest until Šime was in his arms again, safe and sound.

For three long, painful days, he had to endure this torment. He stopped bothering to catch fish for himself and his friends started fearing he would starve himself if this went on for any longer. Then, at last, Luka appeared at the horizon. However, Dejan froze when he realized that the small merman was alone.

He suffered in silence as he saw him jumping in Ivan’s arms and covering his face in enthusiastic kisses. One question filed his mind. Why wasn’t Šime here? Did something go wrong? Did they fight with the other mermen? Did they hurt him?

“Calm down, Dejan. You’re pale as death.” Vedran intervened, but that wasn’t enough to chase his anxiety away.

When Luka noticed how worried he was, he reluctantly let go of Ivan. His boyfriend groaned in discontentment, but also smiled fondly upon seeing Luka willing to help his friend.

“Why isn’t Šime here? Something happened to him?”

“No, he’s fine, don’t worry. But his recovery isn’t completely over yet and traveling all the way here once more would have been dangerous for him. I have good news, though. You’re all welcomed to the reef!”

At that, Ivan elbowed Dejan playfully, a superior look on his face.

“See, I told you Luka could do it!”

“To be completely honest, I barely did anything. When I went to tell Suba about you, he just said that, and I quote ‘definitely took my sweet time coming out and that he already knew for my mershark boyfriend and approved of it.’ I guess we weren’t as subtle as we thought.”

“So you mean…”

“Yep, he’s alright with it. Everyone is. To be honest, Domo is even excited to meet real life mersharks.”

“That… That is so great!” Dejan exclaimed. “So, when can we leave?”

Everyone else chuckled at seeing him so impatient, so he sent a stern look at Luka and Ivan.

“Don’t make fun of me for wanting to be with Šime when you guys just jumped into each other arms.”

“Alright, alright. We’ll organize things so we’ll be able to leave as soon as possible.” Ivan reassured him.

In the end, it took a bit longer than planned, because Vedran and Mario insisted to come as well. Even if they wouldn’t admit it, Dejan was convinced they were only tagging along in case something went wrong. It warmed his heart to know his friends were ready to go to such extents to assure his and Ivan’s safety, even though he wished with all his heart that everything would go well.

During their journey, he was silent, only thinking about being reunited with Šime. But some dark thoughts started to cloud his mind as well. What if the merman realized that he was better off without him, now that he didn’t need to rely on Dejan for everything? What if he changed his mind about dating a mershark?

And even if no such thoughts crossed his boyfriend’s mind, what about the other mermen? Would they accept him? Would they think he was good enough for Šime? What if he didn’t manage to make a good impression, what…

“Oh, for gods’ sake, will you please stop worrying? We’re almost there, you’ll see your dear Šime soon.” Ivan complained.

Before Dejan could defend his right to mope in peace, he spotted the contours of the reef. Colorful fishes filled the water all round them, but most importantly, a fidgety merman was waiting at the border. Once he saw him, Dejan forgot all about Ivan’s taunt and rushed into Šime’s arms, almost knocking him over.

“Hey, easy. I still have to be careful about my injury, you handsome sha…”

Dejan kissed him before he even had the time to finish his sentence and Šime put his hands on his lover’s shoulder blades to ground himself. He giggled with joy, an enamored look on his face.

“Looks like someone’s needy. Guess you’ve missed me.”

“You have no idea.”

They had to split apart so Šime could quickly greet everyone else, though. Mario and Vedran still looked nervous and so Dejan judged it best to go meet the other mermen quickly. He would have enough time to celebrate his reunion with Šime later, once they would get some intimacy.

When they crossed the barrier of the reef, the mersharks became clumsy. They were not used to swimming in between corals and it made Šime chuckle while Luka tried his best to guide Ivan through it.

“It’s weird, Domo said he would be waiting for us here.” Šime said, looking around.

“Surprise!”

They all jumped out in fear, only to see a cheerful merman with an orange and white tail burst out from behind rocks. He was holding a big octopus in his hands and he threw it at Mario. The mershark managed to dodge the threat, but the frightened octopus spilled ink which left him coughing.

“What the…”

The moment he recovered, he started chasing after the merman who had pulled the prank on him. Vedran tried to stop him, but the octopus decided to wrap itself around his arm, preventing him from calming his friend.

The merman was fast, but not fast enough compared to a mershark. Quickly enough, Mario caught up with him and trapped him against a nearby rock. He was pissed off and his pointy teeth were showing, but instead of being frightened, the merman only laughed eerily.

“Got you!” 

Mario froze in his tracks and closed his mouth, suddenly at a lack for words. All at once, he was taking in the happy smile of the merman, his striking blue eyes, his colorful tail, his long, soft-looking blond hair…

“Luka and Šime were right, mersharks aren’t all that scary! I’m Domagoj, by the way, but you can call me Domo. Nice to meet you.”

“You… You threw an octopus at me!”

“Yep, that was fun! No better way to begin a friendship than with a good joke!”

Mario was lost somewhere between anger and confusion, but he decided to let go of the merman, remembering that causing trouble here could jeopardize their chances at befriending the mermen, and then Dejan and Ivan would hate him forever.

“Whatever, don’t do it again.”

“Mario, what are you doing? I thought we told you not to do anything too reckless!” Ivan intervened.

“Oh, so you’re Mario? It’s a nice name!”

Ivan knew better than to make any comment when he saw an embarrassed blush spreading on Mario’s cheeks. He also gave up on trying to separate him from the merman. Something told him he didn’t need to worry about Domo getting hurt in any way.

As for the two other mermen, they helped Vedran to get rid of the clingy octopus before putting the animal back somewhere it would be safe.

“Okay, now we can go and meet everyone else. And Domo, please no more pranks today.” Luka scolded him.

The troublemaker gave him an apologetic smile, though he didn’t look all that sorry.

As they went on, more and more mermen started to appear around them. Most of them were a bit scared and watched them from afar, but their fears soon disappeared as they witnessed Domo poking non-stop at Mario’s shoulder. The mershark scowled and sent him murderous looks, but didn’t do anything to chase the merman away.

Once it became clear that no harm would come to anyone, the group parted as Luka insisted to introduce Ivan to Suba, his childhood friend. As for Šime, he encouraged curious mermen children to come and take a better look at the mersharks. They looked amazed at seeing Dejan up-close as the mershark smiled, a little embarrassed by all the attention but happy nonetheless.

“I think they already accepted you.” Šime laughed.

Dejan didn’t miss the fondness in his eyes and he felt incredibly lucky, to know that the merman was now part of his life, that now nothing stood in the way of their happiness. However, it didn’t take long before he let out a loud yawn, exhausted by his journey. The mermen then noticed that all their guests looked as tired as him.

“You look like you need some rest. There will always be time for us to get to know one another, especially if some of you decide to stay among us.” Suba intervened.

They all agreed and thanked him for his consideration. Luka took the time to look for a place where Vedran could stay the night before disappearing with Ivan. He didn’t have to bother about Mario because Domo didn’t hesitate a second to grab his hand, claiming that he was going to show him the best places in the reef. Mario protested for good measure, trying to maintain an angry look on his face, but he still followed him,

As for Šime and Dejan, it didn’t take long for the merman to guide his boyfriend to a secluded alcove where no one would bother them. Dejan stretched and let out a sigh, glad that everything went well. Then he wrapped his arms around Šime’s waist as the merman happily settled onto his lap.

“See, I told everything would work out just fine.” He purred while trailing kisses down Dejan’s jaw.

“I’m so happy it did. I missed you so much.”

“C’mon, don’t be so dramatic. It was only three days.”

“It was still too much, especially since I wasn’t sure I would get to see you again!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere now. Though have been thinking about… Stuff, while you were gone.”

Something changed in his expression and Dejan didn’t know how to interpret it. He just hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Šime getting bored of him.

“What kind of stuff, exactly?”

“Well, I realized I never thanked you properly for saving my life.” Šime whispered in a seductive tone before giving Dejan a passionate kiss, just as his hands started wandering all over his body.

“If you insist…” Dejan laughed before inverting their positions so the mermaid would be underneath him.

Šime’s eyes were filled with love when their lips met again and in that moment, Dejan knew he would never be able to leave. Now, home was where him and Šime could be together.


End file.
